


To Allies

by Ulan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Pre-Relationship, roadtrip era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27955334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulan/pseuds/Ulan
Summary: Gladio was surprised to see the new face entering the bar.Written for Gladio Week - Day 2: Trust | A night in Lestallum | "Between you and me..."
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: Gladio Week





	To Allies

**Author's Note:**

> Watch me write not-drabbles for Gladio Week like God intended omfg aaaaa

Gladio was surprised to see the newcomer entering the bar. 

There was something to be said about the five seconds it took Ignis to survey the place. On the one hand, maybe Ignis was just the kind of guy who would do that for every place he went to. After all, Gladio did the same himself, added to the fact that he picked a spot at the far corner with his back to a wall, which allowed him to survey his space whenever he needed to. It was just a thing they did. 

On the other hand, Ignis did not take long to find Gladio and meet his gaze. Was there a slight easing on the other man's shoulders upon seeing him? Nowadays, with Ignis, it was difficult to tell when something was real or it was just Gladio's imagination playing with him. 

"Hey," he greeted Ignis when the man had crossed the room and approached the bar. "Didn't expect you would be in a place like this."

Ignis gave Gladio one of those elegant tilts of the head, an eyebrow up as he said, "Funny enough, I expected _you_ would be in a place like this."

"Everything all right with Noct?" asked Gladio, although he supposed that if it was anything urgent, Ignis would behave more like it. 

Sure enough, Ignis only waved Gladio off. "Nothing to worry about. Just a long day, 'tis all. Do you mind?"

The adviser gestured at the glass Gladio was nursing. Gladio's eyebrow rose at that, but with curiosity getting the better of him, he waved for Ignis to feel free. 

Ignis needed not be told twice. A quick hand wrapped around Gladio's glass, after which Gladio's eyes practically boggled as Ignis knocked back the rest of his whiskey.

Gladio whistled at the spectacle. "Damn, Ignis," he said, partly shocked, partly awed as his eyes followed the glass as it was set back down on the table. He peeked up at his colleague's face, who was still squinting at his own stunt. Gladio's lips quirked up, amused. "What do you think?"

"Atrocious," said Ignis, no holds barred. It made Gladio laugh, which, incidentally, he was not sure he had done in a long time since they left the city.

Huh. That was nice, actually.

"Best we can do out here, I'm afraid," he told the other, having perused the selection himself earlier and finding none of the usual names they got in Insomnia. "Though here I thought Ebony was your answer to everything."

"Between you and me, sometimes Ebony just _does_ _not_ cut it."

"Last hunt got to you, too, huh?" It was not even guesswork. They had used up all their restoratives going after the last bounty up, with Noct having clearly overestimated the difficulty of the hunt. It barely made up for the cost of healing themselves, not even counting the close calls they had out there in the wilderness.

"What was Noct thinking?" lamented Ignis, which any other person would probably think was not like him. To Gladio, however, having been on this boat only the two of them had been boarding for some years now, he could easily tell when Ignis was about to spiral. It had happened once or twice before, the man either falling silent with thoughts so deep Gladio was surprised debris didn't circle him from the generated gravity, or he would start mouthing off in a way Gladio initially thought was uncharacteristic, but eventually learned was just Ignis unfiltered. 

That was the thing about them. Trained from their early years to live a life beside the future king, it was difficult not to be pressured by the expectations of their roles. Gladio could understand the need to not fuck up, especially not in public, and over the years it just became second nature to bottle up the exhaustion and frustration and not let them show. 

He gestured to the barkeep for two more glasses. 

"Tell me about it," he said, leaning back and settling in. "If the kid's bored, I've a mind to tell him to just let us know and we can walk him somewhere with more sunshine." 

"Oh, Noctis. Sometimes I do not know what to do about him." 

"He's still a kid," said Gladio. "We let him sleep, then tag team him tomorrow. How's that sound?" 

That got Ignis to smile, and when he sighed, it was as a man releasing the stresses of the moment and shelving them for another day. It was uncanny how easily it came to Gladio to read him, although looking back, there had also been many times when he admired the way Ignis seemed to read him just as well. He thought that was just Ignis being observant, as he was supposed to be, but over the years, Gladio learned that despite their unique roles, looking at Ignis sometimes felt like looking through the other side of a looking-glass. 

It was admittedly nice, not being alone in his boat. Although if, once or twice, he allowed himself the idea of it being a rather attractive image on the looking-glass, well… that was his slip. 

"So, listen." Gladio shifted in his seat, turning to face Ignis and the rest of the room. "Since we're resting up for a few days here, why not--" he gestured to the room "--meet someone new, chill out? Or was that what you were trying to do when you went out tonight?" 

Deflecting. Nice. That ought to be wise. 

Thin eyebrows rose at the suggestion, though. "Not at all," said Ignis. He only gave the room a cursory glance before his eyes were fixed again on Gladio. "Was that what you were doing? I'm sorry, I must be in your way."

"No, that's not what I meant--" 

Gladio's hand shot out before he could stop it, but he pulled back from touching Ignis at the last minute so that his hand just ended up hovering awkwardly above the man's back. Amber eyes met sharp green as the moment stretched between them like a taut chord, the noise of the room dwindling down to white static. 

Gladio shook himself and took his hand back. Pulling his gaze away from Ignis' was like pulling tape accidentally stuck together, but it needed to be done. He cleared his throat. "I mean, no. Don't go. This is fine—good. The company, I mean."

Astrals. 

It was a tense moment with neither speaking. Eventually, Ignis seemed to thaw first, beginning with that—not adorable, no—tilt of his head that he did.

"Well then," said the adviser. He crossed his legs, tucking it further under the shadow of the bar counter. It was all Gladio could do not to look down and follow the movement—because _why would he—_ and instead watched the way the liquid swirled smoothly inside the other man's glass. 

Ignis seemed to stare at Gladio's glass for a moment as well before leaning in to clink their glasses together. The sound was sharp, sufficiently breaking the tense air.

"To allies," he said, "who agree that a night of commiseration is better than flirting with strangers."

 _'What about flirting with not strangers?'_ was the question Gladio did not ask, because _holy fuck._

Instead, he shook his head, huffed out a laugh because some days, shit like this with them was just ridiculous. "Give me a break, Iggy." This time, he was the one to lean in and slowly, pointedly, clinked their glasses again. "To friends," he amended. 

Once again, Ignis just stared at their glasses, where their hands wrapped around them just inches side by side. 

"Friends," he said. "Sure."

There was a slight smile on his face, and—yeah, bastard had always been cryptic. Gladio let it pass. 

So yeah, man on the other side of the looking-glass, different side of the same coin, the sword to the shield Gladio was supposed to be. There were a lot of things Gladio realized coming into this roadtrip and officially becoming Noctis' Shield, but the most unexpected of which was realizing the role of the other people in Noct's orbit, not only to Noctis himself, but to Gladio as well. It was good to have that, someone to vent to, tell secrets to. He wondered if whoever came up with this system thought shields and advisers needed teammates in service of the king. 

If beyond the job and beyond the titles, Gladio had also thought of Ignis as that boy across the room, donning Crownsguard fatigues that seemed to fit him well, or the boy across campus studying peacefully on the stone tables under the shade of a tree, making Gladio's hand itch to pull the paperback novel he had in his bag, well...

That was maybe a secret to be shared for another time. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a friendship fic you know, like Gladio having allies by his side? But Gladio, oh boy, get your crush under control ffs
> 
> Come yell at me over at Twitter/Tumblr @bestboyignis


End file.
